Fort Campbell, KY – Teams from 101st Airborne Division units and Fort Campbell competed in a series of marksmanship events on Tuesday during the 101st Airborne Division’s Week of the Eagles.

“Competition breeds Excellence,” said 1st Lt. Jonathan Pickens, the planner for the Week of the Eagles Marksmanship Competition. “It also helps build that competitive edge that we need to take to the enemy when we’re deployed overseas.”

Snipers and their spotters conduct a visual search for foreign objects placed down range.

Each brigade combat team, combat aviation brigade, the 101st Sustainment Brigade, 5th Special Forces Group, and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment entered four teams in the series of marksmanship challenges.

The first event placed a single Soldier team in a combat stress shoot that had the Soldier engage a series of targets with pistols, rifles and machine guns. The Soldier’s score was based on their total amount of hits scored and the time it took them to traverse the course. The winner of the combat stress shoot event was a Soldier from 3rd BCT.

His shot fired the competitor ejects the shell from his 12 Gauge Shotgun

The next scenario placed an eight-man team in a squad battle position event. The squad was given a task to execute a movement to a pick up point. While in route, the squad receives an order to reinforce a nearby position that is under attack. The squad leader must establish a defensive position and direct his Soldiers to clear the area of enemy forces. The winning team was from 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 1st BCT “Bastogne.”

In the third event, a team consisting of one noncommissioned officer, two gunners and two assistant gunners were given the task of establishing a support by fire position to suppress enemy targets within the engagement area. The teams established their first position and engaged targets with a M240 machine gun. They then ran to another position and engaged more targets before moving to the finish point. The score was determined by hits scored and by the time taken to negotiate the course. The top score of the machine gun event went to a team from Company B, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd BCT.

A shooters pistol recoils after a shot

A four-man sniper team event had snipers and their spotters conduct a foot patrol to their firing positions before engaging targets. Following the first engagement, the team transitioned to another firing area where the spotters engaged targets. After the elimination of all targets, the team finished their foot patrol. The sniper competition was scored on the number of hits with a minimum score of five hits out of 10 targets needed to pass. Hits were deducted as well based on total time taken to traverse the course. The winning sniper team was a team from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Bn. 187th Inf. Regt.

Competitor SSG Mark Bangcaya and his son Mark Angelo Bangcaya II

The awards were given to the top three teams of each event in a ceremony by Brig. Gen. Andrew Poppas, the deputy commanding general (operations). Poppas spoke to the winning teams about the importance of leadership not just in competitions such as this, but in the day-to-day training of Soldiers.